The world’s largest pork consumer (China) is expected to make big purchases of US grain for livestock feed to keep up with their growing demand. Corn futures are said to have rose today on this news.

The USDA has reported US farmers sold 120 metric tons of corn for delivery after September 1st. China’s agricultural grain office hinted that they are looking to buy corn (futures) at the $5.50 per bushel area.

“Rumors have been floating around regarding China buying US corn to help shore up their supply for the last couple of months now. We have not see any huge one-time purchases, but it has kept the market a bit choppy. I would still be a buyer of dips in the market until we get into full season here in the states and then see how the growing season goes from there,” said Chris Hildebrand, vice-president of trading for HighGround Trading Group in Chicago, regarding the current corn futures situation.

The trend for corn futures is officially down, but this market has been trading absolutely sideways since the beginning of the year. However, now this is the seasonal time of the year for corn futures to be heading northward, so we may be looking at more chop in the very near future